How are LEGO video games collaborated?

[Solscud007]

My wife and I are having a great time playing the new LEGO Batman 2 Super Heroes video game. While some of the vehicles and characters are used int he game to promote the official LEGO sets, I am curious about the other characters, accessories and vehicles.

Some iconic vehicles like Robin's motorcycle and the Whirly Bat would be fun to make. Does the TLG help Tt Games design these "sets" and then Tt games digitizes them?

Are all the sets in the game based on sound Lego building principles? Like the giant Joker Robot? Is that something I could build? Could TLG share the instructions for these in game sets?

[LegoCloneFanatic]

Idk if they really make them and never release them but it would be cool if they did come out with instructions. I really want to make the Pumpkin Car.

[sok117]

And I'm currently reverse engineering Harley's Harley! The game has surprised me with how awesome the vehicles are! And I too am interested in hearing the answer to this question.

[Brickdoctor]

TT Games has hired people to design some of the builds in recent games. These AFOL-designed models, for example.

[Skipper]

I don't know about the Batman ones specifically but I know that for the PotC game the ships were designed in LEGO first--Derfel Cardarn linked the Flying Dutchman, and some people on EB have reconstructed the Black Pearl (can't remember who though). So, even though I haven't looked at the Batman games at all, I'd guess that you should be able to translate the models from the game to plastic.

Edit: I type too slowly, I see Doc beat me.

Edited June 27, 2012 by Skipper

[eiker86]

After what i heard last year at AFOLcon from bricktrix, we should be able to build mostly everything in the game.

He is one of the model builders and he try to make them as "buildfriendly" as possible.

[Faefrost]

Idk if they really make them and never release them but it would be cool if they did come out with instructions. I really want to make the Pumpkin Car.

Can you imagine if we could get instructions for the giant Jokerbot? I figure it would stand about a meter tall

[Bricktrix]

I'll step in and answer this as I was the main model designer for this game.

However, please try to understand that as I am under NDA's and due to trade secrets, there are only so many things that I can say.

In answer to the main question, no TLG do not design for us. Whenever possible we will use official TLG theme sets to obviously promote them in game. When its not possible (i.e. they have not made a model that we need) then its my (and teams) job to design and build them to suit the game requirements. This can involve also "modifying" official sets to further meet specs that we need in game that the original model does not have. Everything we design or re-design has to be approved by TLG.

The giant Joker Robot is build-able and does work in articulation etc.

Its a model I'm quite proud of and we hope to one day build it all for real. *

Due to the size of it, deadlines and our "real brick collection" only certain parts of it were built for real, just to demonstrate to animators how things should work, prove to myself that certain connections and offsets did work in brick after building them digitally, etc, etc.

However, whilst it is build-able, its probably not possible to build in the correct colours. We are allowed to colour change any parts to any colour within TLG's colour range, the theory behind this being if TLG were to make our models as sets, then they would also colour change parts that are not yet available in colours that we have used from their pallete. * Hence, if we were to build this in brick in game colours, it would require a trip to Billund and their spray booth for certain elements ;)

Correct on the size of it, possibly even slightly higher, it is huge!

As for Harlequins motorbike and the pumpkin car from HP, I still have them built and now on a display shelf at work :)

[Bilbo Baggins]

This is great news, is there any possibility of getting the instructions?

[Im a brickmaster.]

Interesting. I remember some said that the Balrog from the up coming Lego LOTR game was built first!

Not if thats true, but still.